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8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



April 15, 1909. 



BRASSO-CATTLEYA SUSANNAH. 



The intereating new orchid, Brasso- 

 Cattleya Sulaannse, is the result of a cross 

 between Cattleya Thayeriana and Brassa- 

 vola Digbyana. The cross was made in 

 October, 1900, an<}'8eed sown in Decem- 

 ber, 1901. ' The resultant offspring is 

 fairly intermediate between the two par- 

 ents, the top showing especially the influ- 

 ence of the brassavola, although in a less 

 degree than in some of the other crosses 

 where B. Digbyana has been used. 



The plant carrying two flowers, as il- 

 lustrateid, was exhibited by the raiser, 

 E. O. Orpet, South Lancaster, Mass., at 

 the Boston spring show, March 24, 1909, 

 and received a first-class certificate. Mr. 

 Orpet has raised many other seedlings, 

 but this is the first Brassavola Digbyana 

 cross he has flowered. It is also, I be- 

 lieve, the first in America, although in 

 Europe a considerable number have been 

 raised. W. N. Ceaig. 



THE EASTER LILY. 



[A paper by George Bartholomew, read before 

 the Dayton Florists' Club April 5, 1909.) 



The principal varieties grown are Har- 



risii, longiflorum and giganteum. The 



Harrisii Uly not so long ago was the only 



lily relied on and grown for the Easter 



trade, but of late years it is being rele- 



fated to a place among the * ' has beens, ' ' 

 or various reasons, in regard to which a 

 good many people differ. Some think 

 they are cut for the bloom, which we all 

 know has a tendency to interfere with 

 the proper development and ripening of 

 the bulb, while others say it is the fault 

 of the importers, who are so anxious to 

 obtain orders that they promise extra 

 early delivery and then ship the lilies 

 before they have had a chance to ripen. 

 "We can give you your Harrisii," they 

 say, * ' two or three weeks before our com- 

 petitors can." I myself think we can 

 trace the decay to both causes. 



Not so many years ago, Lilium Har- 

 risii were cut in Bermuda, in bud, and 

 shipped to New York for Easter, to com- 

 pete with our florists who were buying 

 from them, with the expectation of realiz- 

 ing a fair profit from their investment. 

 Now, as I Bay, it appears to me that this 

 is where the Harrisii seems to get worse 

 every year. I have received bulbs of 

 the Harrisii which, from all appearances, 

 were good and solid. When grown on, 

 they came up and made a promising ap- 

 pearance, with plenty of buds, but the re- 

 sults were no texture to the flowers. I 

 have been growing Harrisii for the last 

 twenty-five years, and up to twelve years 

 ago I had no trouble, growing them from 

 four to five feet high, with the best of 

 flowers, but to be candid with you, fellow 

 members, Lilium Harrisii, as far as I 

 am able to see, are a thing of the past. 



Lonsiflorum and Giganteum. 



Not so many years ago, our enterpris- 

 ing little Japs came forward offering 



us lilies for Easter, including the longi- 

 florum and giganteum, which we all find 

 much more profitable to grow, especially 

 the giganteum. 



A few years ago no florist, or even the 

 public, thought of buyisig Easter lilies 

 except for Easter. Now, by a' system of 

 keeping them in cold storage, we can 

 have them the year around. They are 

 kept at a temperature as near freezing 

 as possible, in order to retard them from 

 starting to grow. Any grower or florist 

 can have Easter lilies the year around, 

 by potting them at intervals, allowing 

 what he thinks to be a reasonable time 

 between and estimating the quantity nec- 

 essary to jpnpply his demands. We grow 

 about 50,000 Easter lily bulbs each year 

 and expect to grow more if the- demand 

 requires it. Here is where every florist 

 should keep posted, whether it bie on 

 Easter lilies or anything else. If your 

 patrons know you make a specialty of 

 any particular thing, they will look to 

 you when in need of it. 



Easter lily bulbs, when received, should 

 be taken from the case they are shipped 

 in immediately and put in a cool place. 

 A little moss thrown over them will be a 

 benefit, providing you are unable to pot 

 them at once. 



Culture. 



Take good, rich, open soil and do not 

 use too large a pot. Always use drain- 

 age. Cover the bulb one-half inch to an 

 inch with soil, water thoroughly and 

 place outside in a coldf rame. Cover with 



well rotted manure, about two inches 

 thick; this will hold the moisture for a 

 long time. If they are exposed to dry 

 weather, examine them; thus you can 

 tell whether they need water. If, how- 

 ever, there are occasional showers, they 

 will need no more water until you re- 

 move them inside. A good many growers 

 make a mistake here, not only with lilies, 

 but with other stock. If the pot is not 

 full of roots, be careful in watering. 

 There are a number of growers asking 

 today, "What is the trouble with my 

 lilies — the stems are so short?" when the 

 trouble or fault is all their own. So I 

 always say, if a plant is not thirsty do 

 not water it. If a person is not thirsty 

 he does not want a drink. 



Begarding Easter lilies for summer and 

 fall blooms, the same method may be car- 

 ried out, with the exception of taking 

 weather conditions into doiisideration. 

 "Vi^e grow or 8.tart them under the bench, 

 or on top, ' where the glass has been 

 shaded, but we always use a covering of 

 sphagnum moss. You will find that with 

 this method they will grow longer stems, 

 where there is an abundance of shade, but 

 plenty of air at all times. They can be 

 grown to meet your demands until your 

 Formosas come in, which should be by the 

 first part of February. The same culture 

 may be used in growing Formosas as is 

 used for the gigant^ums. 



BERMUDA. 



Where Easter Lilies Grow. 



South of the gulf stream and 600 miles 

 from New York is a group of coral 

 islands caUed The Bermudas. They were 

 discovered by Juan Bermudez about 1522, 

 while en route from Spain to Cuba. Ob- 

 serving that vegetation was luxuriant and 

 food for animals plentiful, he conceived 

 the idea of leaving a number of hogs on 

 the largest island. It seems that nature 

 had a more poetic use for Bermuda than 

 hog colonization, for as the seamen were 

 about to land the animals a fierce storm 

 arose, causing them to abandon the 

 project. The islands were next visited by 

 an Englishman named May, and prob- 

 ably much against his will, too, for his 



Brasso-Cattleya Susannae. 



